Transcription practice

Language is a science, an art, and a social object. While we spend great efforts trying to understand the complex components that make language possible, we should not stop appreciating its artistic value and social value. In our transcription practice this week, let’s pay tribute to social movements from all corners of the world by transcribing a few lines from a beautiful poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, a black American female poet.

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

You can find the rest of the poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise

Provide the transcriptions in the blank lines below:

Out of the huts of history’s shame

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ________ ______

I rise

_____ _____

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

___ ______ ____ ________ _____ ______ ___ _____

I rise

Question 1

Consider the following data from Language X and answer the related questions.

1. [tinta] ‘dye’
2. [tɛnda] ‘tent’
3. [dant͡sa] ‘dance’
4. [neɾo] ‘black’
5. [d͡ʒɛnte] ‘people’
6. [sapone] ‘soap’
7. [tiŋgo] ‘I dye’
8. [tɛŋgo] ‘I keep’
9. [fuŋgo] ‘mushroom’
10. [bjaŋka] ‘white’
11. [aŋke] ‘also’
12. [faŋgo] ‘mud’
13. Find all the minimal pairs in the above data. (4 points)
14. Based only on the data above, are [n ŋ] separate phonemes or allophones of the same phoneme? Explain your answer. (4 points)

Question 2

Consider the following data from Language Y and answer the related questions.

1. [pi̥senmoŋ] ‘hair’
2. [tu̥pukda] ‘bought’
3. [pu̥ko] ‘basket’
4. [pi̥t͡ʃumene] ‘this pig’
5. [su̥pwo] ‘firewood’
6. [si̥ko] ‘to talk about’
7. [uduk] ‘flesh’
8. [masak] ‘hard’
9. [liŋ] ‘beautiful’
10. [pilda] ‘to choose’
11. [poki] ‘to strike something’
12. [lud͡ʒ] ‘to jump’
13. [kurd͡ʒ] ‘to grind’
14. [rik] ‘to gather’
15. Are [i i̥] in complementary distribution or contrastive distribution? (Note: you need minimal pairs to establish contrastive distribution.) Explain your answer. (4 points)
16. Are [i i̥] separate phonemes or allophones of the same phoneme? Explain your answer. (4 points)

Question 3

In your own words, why do linguists distinguish between two types of sound inventories of a language (the phonetic inventory and the phonemic inventory)? (8 points)

Question 4

Provide an example of phonotactics in a language of your choice (it may be English or any other language). You must identify the language and must not use examples already discussed in the videos. (6 points)

Last Updated on July 13, 2021